The lift in job advertising could mean unemployment falling to about 5.5% by the end of the year, ANZ economist Steve Edwards said yesterday.
Releasing the ANZ Job Ads series, Mr Edwards said the lift in job advertising was consistent with a continuing but more modest rise in employment growth.
Unemployment is currently 6%, held there mainly because of an increase in expatriate Kiwis and migrants taking up jobs in Auckland and Christchurch as vacancies become available.
The ANZ Jobs June series showed total job advertising lifted 5.7% in June. However, a large part of the increase was due to a rebound from the 4.8% fall measured in May.
Smoothing over the past two months' volatility, job advertising lifted 0.6% from April, he said.
''This was enough to lift total advertising to the highest level since October 2008.''
Nationwide, internet job advertising rose 3.8% in June. In a similar pattern to total job advertising, the lift in June's internet job advertising came on the heels of a fall in May.
But unlike total job advertising, the lift in June was not enough to offset the drop in May, leaving online job advertising 1.6% below April's record high, Mr Edwards said.
Newspaper advertising contributed a larger relatively monthly increase than the one measured in online advertising. The volume of print job advertising in June increased 18.6% from May, returning the series to where it was earlier.
The Otago Daily Times contributes to the series.
At a glance
• Total job advertising lifted 5.7% in June
• Newspaper-based job advertisements increased in Otago, Waikato and Manawatu.
• Fell in Hawkes Bay.
• Nationwide internet job advertising rose 3.8% in June.
• Unemployment likely to fall to 5.5% this year.
